August 01, 2019

Wolfson, Johnson win national titles at National Junior Olympics in Sacramento

8/1/2019

photos & results

(1-Aug) The 2019 USATF Hershey National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships concluded Sunday in Sacramento, CA with 37 athletes from the New York association competing in the championships during the seven day competition held at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University.

The New York athletes competed in a total of 62 individual events and eight relays against the best young athletes in the country.

A total of 11 all-American performances were achieved by New York athletes with each earning a trip to the awards podium, a championship medal, and the coveted Junior Olympic All-American hat.

The storylines of the meet for the New York athletes were the double gold medal winning performances turned in by Tobias Wolfson (MHC Track Club) and the three all-American honors earned by Nathaniel Johnson (Notre Dame TC).

Wolfson, a rising senior at Riverdale Country Day High School, came to Sacaremento as veteran of the Junior Olympic program having competed at the national championships in 2017 in Kansas and last year in North Carolina. In 2017 he finished seventh in the 1500m and 11th in the 800m and last year he won the 3000m and finished second in the 1500m, and 20th in the 800m. As the the defending champion in the 3000m he had a target on his back but that target was barely visible to the rest of the field as he ran to seven second victory stopping the clock at 8:42.51; just 1.26 seconds off the meet record. On the final day of competition despite temperatures of nearing 100º Wolfson ran to a career best time of 3:57.77 to win the 1500m by over four seconds. His previous best before Sacramento was the 3:59.45 he ran during the NYRR Millrose Games this winter. Wolfson is now a five-time Junior Olympic all-American.

IN THEIR WORDS - Tobias Wolfson

Winning both the 3000m and 1500m feels incredible. It is definitely one of the biggest, if not the biggest, achievement of my running career. My goals going into the meet were to win the 3000m and 1500m. Last year I won the 3000m, but came in second in the 1500m, so I’m thrilled that I was able to pull off the double this year. In addition, to finish off the year with two PRs was even more special.

Competing in the USATF Junior Olympics is something that I believe has been an essential part of my running career. Since my freshman year I’ve competed at the National meet every summer, and being able to race against the best in the country has truly shaped me into the runner I am.

Johnson started the championships off on day 2 (Tuesday) with a gold medal performance in the 11-12 boys Pentathlon. He took the lead on the first event, the 80m Hurdles, and never relinquished. He accumulated 2366 points over the five events to outscore runner-up Pry'nce Millman of Arizona by 149 points. He had the best performances of the 21 competitors in the 80m Hurdles (13.02) and the high jump (1.60m / 5-03). His mark broke the exisiting association record of 2288 pts. set in 2017 by Jaden Snow. Later in the week he earned all-American honors in the 80m Hurdles and 400m. In the 80m Hurdles he finished fourth running 12.91 and in the 400m he placed seventh running 58.22.

Jasmin Muhammad-Graham (Medgar Evers Cougars TC) entered the competition as the #18 seed in the 17-18 girls 800m but far exceeded the form charts as she finished fourth running 2:14.98. She also finished 32nd in the 400m running 59.10. Her Medgar Evans teammate Steven Jacques finished fifth in the 15-16 boys Long Jump with a mark of 6.30m (20-08). He was also 28th in the 100m and 37th in the 200m. Also picking up a fifth place finish was Marshall Miller in the 7-8 boys shot put with a throw of 7.22m (23-8¼). The mark established a new association record breaking the record of 6.97m he set at the region 1 meet two weeks earlier. He also finished 16th in the Javelin.

Jermaine Ewers added to the medal haul for the Medgar Evers Cougars Track Club as he finished sixth in the 17-18 boys 100m in a time of 10.81. His time was just .01 seconds off of his career best.

A trio of New York athletes picked up seventh place finishes as each earned all-American honors for the first time in their careers. Nuru Jobe (Notre Dame) leaped 1.25m (4-1¼) in the 9-10 boys high jump as he competed in his first Junior Olympic nationals. Jobe also finished tenth in the Triathlon. In the always competitive girls 13-14 400m Anissa Moore (Moore Acceleration TC) ripped a 57.86 to earn her trip to the awards podium. At last year's championships in Greensboro she finished 30th in a time of 1:01.21. In Sacramento she also finished 18th in the 800m in a time of 2:24.58 and 20th in the 200m running 26.17. Ryan Eagan (unattached) finished seventh in the boys 17-18 3000m running 9:03.87. Finishing two places behind Eagan, and just missing all-American honors by .56 seconds, was Nathaniel Oakes (MHC TC).

New York clubs competed in eight relays and did very well against the best squads in the county. The New York relay results were:

11	Medgar Evers Cougars TC	15-16 boys	4x400m Relay	3:29.04
16	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	9-10 boys	4x400m Relay	5:02.03
16	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	13-14 boys	4x400m Relay	3:56.03
16	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	9-10 girls	4x400m Relay	5:05.39
19	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	9-10 boys	4x100m Relay	1:00.37
22	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	13-14 boys	4x100m Relay	49.79
24	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	13-14 girls	4x100m Relay	52.55
30	Ocean Breeze Wave Runners	13-14 girls	4x400m Relay	4:28.98

The 2020 national championships will be held in Jacksonville, Florida July 27 - August 2.

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